I Am Not The King

thats actually happened to me twice, i quit a job and get fired shortly there after. i guess people say theyre going to do stuff all the time, but dont, and thats how that is possible? i want to be sincere when i speak, like when i say "IM GOING CRAZY" or "NO WAY BABY, IM OUTTA HERE" its not that i feel a tad prang or i might leave in sixteen days, its im having a psychotic break and, also, i shall be leavining, adios, where is my sombrero.

Thank you to everyone for participating, and bearing with me as I stumbled my way through my first ever competition. I've learned a lot and have some ideas moving forward for the next one.. but I think that we need a month or so off before we try and fire up anything else again...

Interesting track here, although I think the production in the drums feel a bit flat to my liking, I do really like the higher percussion though. Albeit it being a fairly short track for this genre, I feel the arrangement at times was a bit dull at points, I feel at points it's just a bit "draggy" and predictable. The samples you added in yourself were pretty good, particularly like the second sample used (not the speech). Good work, more work on the arrangement would have made this great.

This is my personal favourite track of the bunch and one I voted for cause I think it really shined in terms of production. I think while it is very much what I consider as minimal DnB, it is a bit "typical" or "cliché" in its style as much as I do enjoy it. It almost reminds me of a downtempoish version of Imperial by Skeptical come to think of it. I feel with these kinda tracks, it's tricky to have a superbly impressive arrangement but I like the subtle changes you were doing every 16 like adding in new percs, or subtle changes to the bassline, I think that worked well.

For me, this track takes a bit too long to kick in with the intro not drawing me enough to make up for that. Personally I feel like the basses take away from what my perception of minimal dnb is, hence the lower score there. Something about the general drum pattern seems off to me in the sense that the groove feels a bit offbeat although I could be mishearing that. I do think out of the three tracks presented here, this was the most original and experimental, but is let down by the overly long intro and breakdown in my opinion.

Track B: 26.5 Total Score
Production Quality: 7/10
Few minor level issues, the hat sounds a bit loud to me, sometimes on the snares there sounds like some
clashing of freqs in sound or just some harsh freqs left in but overall I think the track is quite solid, I'd have bought the mid bass out a bit more.
overall a good mix let down only by a few individual elements.

Is it MInimal? 4/5
I think it fits the minimal style very well, and overall I think the vibe of the track is very clear and it has some style to it, it could evolve a touch more is all I'd say.

Composition Originality & Creative Use of Samples 8.5/10
For me it's a well thought out arrangement, the sample use is creative and everything sits nicely in terms of sound design and character. Nothing that really caught me off guard though so I can't give top marks
8.5/10

Arrangement - 7/10
As above, I really like the arrangement, it lacks a touch of progression and evolution throughout.

Track F: 30 Total Score
Production Quality: 10/10
This sounds absolutely sick, the texture on that kick is so well done. snares are crisp and everything is balanced, percs coming in are loud enough to carry but not overpowering.

Is it Minimal? 4/5
Pretty much spot on, even if it is quite similar to a lot of tracks out there.

Creative Use, Originality 7/10
Quality over Quantity here, you've used the samples and made some really polished final sounds. Arrangement of some of the sounds is great,
creative use of samples I wouldn't mark as high though.

Arrangement 9/10
The track flows like your ears want it to, if that makes sense. I think it's lacking a touch in some end of 16 sounds and textures helping to create a more dramatic switch,
or maybe some filtering on the drums or something.

Track G: 24.5 Total Score
Production Quality - 6/10
I love the textures, specifically the different snares, they could do with brightening up though and levelling out a bit, they sound a bit mismatched in terms of their "finish". The levels could do with a bit of work between the drums for me.
the basses are a touch loud and hectic when they come in, but i like everything else.

Is it minimal? 3.5/5
Most creative track for me, but a little outside the box as well... minimal can be perceived differently and I'd say this is it's own spin on it.

Composition and Creative Use 9.5/10
You've really gone to town throwing different sounds and sample in there and I really like the feel of the track. The basses ruin it for me a bit, I wish they were more just sub to fit the melancholy feel of the track.
That said, it's the most original, by far.

Arrangement 5.5/10
So it starts of really well... the breakdown or drop? part with the drum pattern is great too but I have to agree it takes too long to get there and then eventually goes back to the kick snare pattern, seems a little disjointed and I wish it had build up from that drum pattern section, not gone back to the build up. I realise this may be the tune fading down a bit but it's a strange choice to have such a drawn out first section for me.

I cant say its very original, but its good, so it really doesnt have to be.
The production quality on this is great. Very confident in the style, regarding melodies and sound design. The sample pack must have been an enormous help this time around.
The arrangement clicks and rattles in different tempos and with little musical bits, like blips and strings and the bass and the warps, its really cool.
A sparse workout of beats and bass showing a ton of skill and confidence, but not much in way of originality or other musical ambitions.

Production quality is massive on this one, great sound. Its a very classic minimal groove, the kind of minimal thats really closer to tech than autonomic. A driving groove of kicks and bass, over a hollow pad background and then the halftime clicky clack, with the bass ah man its heavy.
Arrangement is simple yet effective. Very effective, its easy to see why this is the favoirte.
Its not original or creative at all, but its good. Top marks.

Im sorry to put such a bottom score on production quality, because of the finalists, this is my favorite, i want to hear originality and creativity more than anything else, and this is a fine fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine track with the huge pad sound and the interesting and varied beats, i like this a lot.
Production wise the strings are super dominant and the drum sound is thin, which really doesn't have to be a bad thing, but its dnb so we do have a certain aesthetic we chase. I don't mind at all if we leave the whole ”super heavy kick snare bass on everything” forever, but you did forget the bass in the song, and we do need sub, so really the two things that i feel could be better is the balance in the mix and more bass in the music.
Damn fine track.